In the first balloon I read “surface” as “furnace” and it still made sense. I guess a water dweller might actually see the surface world that way. I know that the comic has touched on the hazards of getting too cold but I wonder if Selkie might also have difficulty dissipating too much heat.
Skin dehydration would have been higher on my list of concerns (and her lungs –er respiratory system– does have that issue) but they are evolved as amphibians, remember, not purely aquatic.
I imagine she’s susceptible to heat stroke or sunburn on especially hot and dry summer days, possibly a little sooner than a human would be. By the same token, the precautions humans take to avoid such would probably work just as well for her.
…There’s also a fairly tasteless “smell of cooked fish” joke or two in there that Amanda may or may not restrain herself from making.
Nice to see this one for world building. A lot of cuisines around the world don’t have direct translations into other languages. We just refer to them in their native tongue- sashimi for example.
I am having trouble seeing the hot plate working. Doesn’t it spend a lot of energy boiling water across the surface, and only cook the bit of food that is in direct contact? How do you even develop the concept of cooked food without an open fire stage first?
My brain is interpreting the hot plate as a Sarnothi sci-fi fusion of microwaves and force fields. And the invention of cooked food in an amphibious species doesn’t seem any less likely to me then the invention of sonar in a landbound one.
Thus, while Pants The Eel lived a peaceful, pampered, long life, his brother Boyahr The Eel instead met the typical fate of giant eels.
This saddened Charlotte CXVI, who had tried her very best to save Boyahr by spinning webs with messages like “Some Eel” all over the trees around the lake. Unfortunately, none of the Sarnothi noticed because they were under the lake most of the time and Charlotte CXVI only knew how to write in English.
Meh. The joke at the end hit pretty flat with me. I’m also one of those crabby people that expects bacon to be what it’s supposed to be, cured meat from pigs.
Turkey bacon isn’t bacon. And that crazy lady on YouTube making carrot bacon should be committed.
To me, that feels more like it should be called “carrot jerky”…. it still looks pretty tasty, I would try it. But I agree in that it’s not “bacon”.
Likewise, veggie-based burger patties are also tasty, though not all are created equal. I’m still sampling different brands and flavors. But “burger” is simply the shortened version of “hamburg sandwich” which refers to a sandwich on a kaiser roll that originated in Hamburg, Germany.
Vegan option can be really good, when done right.
**I am and will always be an omnivore, due to health issues that require me to keep a diet of animal proteins.
It seems strange that an underwater civilization would use tablee, benches, and other things based on based on a 2D world without currents.It’s incredibly wasteful when people can swim and float at any level or orientation.
In the first balloon I read “surface” as “furnace” and it still made sense. I guess a water dweller might actually see the surface world that way. I know that the comic has touched on the hazards of getting too cold but I wonder if Selkie might also have difficulty dissipating too much heat.
Skin dehydration would have been higher on my list of concerns (and her lungs –er respiratory system– does have that issue) but they are evolved as amphibians, remember, not purely aquatic.
I imagine she’s susceptible to heat stroke or sunburn on especially hot and dry summer days, possibly a little sooner than a human would be. By the same token, the precautions humans take to avoid such would probably work just as well for her.
…There’s also a fairly tasteless “smell of cooked fish” joke or two in there that Amanda may or may not restrain herself from making.
A very important word indeed m
Wouldn’t this be closer to like… pork rinds?
Yeah kind of
Nice to see this one for world building. A lot of cuisines around the world don’t have direct translations into other languages. We just refer to them in their native tongue- sashimi for example.
Vahn tae boyahr!
It is a testament to how advanced a civilisation Sarnoth is, that they simply decided to name bacon “boo-yah”.
Hey Dave, how do the Sarnothi cook food underwater?
Hot plates like what we see here, or contained boilers that seal themselves and heat up the water inside.
I am having trouble seeing the hot plate working. Doesn’t it spend a lot of energy boiling water across the surface, and only cook the bit of food that is in direct contact? How do you even develop the concept of cooked food without an open fire stage first?
I’m having the same problem. I just don’t see how the physics can work to cook the food without cooking the cook.
and won’t the food just float off the grille…. and the tables, for that matter?
A wiz… i mean, an echo did it.
My brain is interpreting the hot plate as a Sarnothi sci-fi fusion of microwaves and force fields. And the invention of cooked food in an amphibious species doesn’t seem any less likely to me then the invention of sonar in a landbound one.
The hot surface sears the meat in direct contact yeah. It disperses heat above into the surrounding water and gets warm but not boiling.
Physics wise it simply doesn’t work, but I enjoy the storytelling enough not to care.
Why isn’t the chef named “Dee”?
(Get it? Get it? Chef Boyahr Dee? Hee heeeeee, I kill me …)
Thus, while Pants The Eel lived a peaceful, pampered, long life, his brother Boyahr The Eel instead met the typical fate of giant eels.
This saddened Charlotte CXVI, who had tried her very best to save Boyahr by spinning webs with messages like “Some Eel” all over the trees around the lake. Unfortunately, none of the Sarnothi noticed because they were under the lake most of the time and Charlotte CXVI only knew how to write in English.
Meh. The joke at the end hit pretty flat with me. I’m also one of those crabby people that expects bacon to be what it’s supposed to be, cured meat from pigs.
Turkey bacon isn’t bacon. And that crazy lady on YouTube making carrot bacon should be committed.
To me, that feels more like it should be called “carrot jerky”…. it still looks pretty tasty, I would try it. But I agree in that it’s not “bacon”.
Likewise, veggie-based burger patties are also tasty, though not all are created equal. I’m still sampling different brands and flavors. But “burger” is simply the shortened version of “hamburg sandwich” which refers to a sandwich on a kaiser roll that originated in Hamburg, Germany.
Vegan option can be really good, when done right.
**I am and will always be an omnivore, due to health issues that require me to keep a diet of animal proteins.
wouldn’t a sandwich in a Kaiser roll be a bit redundant?
They should have seen this because; World Wide Web.
It seems strange that an underwater civilization would use tablee, benches, and other things based on based on a 2D world without currents.It’s incredibly wasteful when people can swim and float at any level or orientation.
By the way, do they have swim bladders?
Since Carrie is teaching Selkie about the Eel based foods. DOes that make her a
Some Eeli er?
“Some eeli er”
You are my new best friend. 🙂